Christmas came early for Dtech!

dtech

dtech

New member
Several years ago I started having a local company laser engrave my stocks and gas-blocks. I had the stocks engraved just as a form of advertising, but the gas-blocks were engraved more from necessity. I just didn't have the ability to "stamp" my barrels with sufficient quality to have it visible. The laser engraving solved that problem. The down-side is, that I need about 100 gas-blocks in stock in an attempt to have what I need, when I need it.

The last time I was at the laser shop, I noticed that they had a brand-new machine, and the machine they had been using, had a cover over it, and it was pushed into the corner. After asking a few questions I found out they had gotten a machine with the ability to cut or engrave on a much larger scale. their old machine had a table that was 32" x 18.5", but their new one has a table that is about 5' x 10'.

Well guess what.... They made me a deal I couldn't refuse, and their smaller laser ended up "following me home".

Here's a picture of the engraver, and the chiller used to keep the laser cool.
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Here's a Purpleheart loading block that I engraved, along with a gas-block.
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I'm really pumped about this new acquisition, as it seems virtually endless what you can do with these lasers. The down-side is that I just moved into my new shop and I'm already running out of room!
 
Ok Mike that is really cool and I think that is a great purchase.
Now get back to the shop and start building my 243 WSSM (lol)
Mike I sent you a e-mail did you get it,we need to talk about my new 243 WSSM
Joe
 
Very cool Mike!!
I can see where that will be a valuable tool for you to have.
I see lots of custom engraving in your future!
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Mark
 
The options really are limitless with that guy. In my last hobby laser engraving was a big deal as the paintball guns are aluminum and people like to be different.

Here are some examples of guns that I had done a couple years ago. The plain back and white gun is one that is just anodized black then laser engraved, the others are a mixture of laser and anodizing.

Neat stuff.

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http://www.oddpb.com/Gallery/oddguns/knottwork.htm

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http://www.oddpb.com/Gallery/oddguns/talkintomego.htm

Those were two that I had commissioned, I added links to his website so those that cared could check some more of his work. He is an amazing dude when it comes to anodizing and laser engraving.

I hope Mike gets some customers and request some cool stuff on their AR's.
 
Mike, I'm sure it'll be nice doing the laser stuff "in house" now. It must have been a real hassle having to send stuff out and waiting for it to come back.
I hope my gas block will be one of the first on the new machine, like in the next week, or 2, or even three!!!
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I promise I'll post a picture.
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It's alot easier to control quality of processes in house rather than sending everything out for sure. Looks like a great addition to your capabilities.
 
The engraver works like a printer for what's called "raster printing" and works like a CNC vertical mill for what is called "Vector printing"

The raster printing is used for anything like a photograph or lettering. The vector printing will cut on what ever lines you have in a drawing. You would use the vector printing for cutting out lettering for stencils or for cutting material like gaskets or tags.

It's really quite easy. The only difficult part is knowing how much power to use.
 
It is completely scale-able. For instance, when I'm going to engrave a gas-block, I measure the area on the side of the block that will contain the text. I put the block on the laser bed, and run the carriage over the block. There is a visible positioning laser you can turn on to help you set-up the piece for printing. I set the visible laser where I want the printing to begin, then read the X and Y coordinates off of the display. When I hit "print set up" I enter those coordinates into the software. The software shows you how large the print or photo will will be at 100%. From there you can either enter the actual height or width you want, or a percentage of the 100% size.

It's really VERY easy to figure out. Again, the only real tough part is to figure out how much "heat" to use. I have been like "a kid in a candy-shop" and engraving everything in my shop. I grabbed a box of Redding dies to engrave, positioned the box, guessed at the "heat" and proceeded to melt a hole in the die box! Whatever Redding uses for plastic in their die boxes does not lend itself well to engraving!
 
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